software marketing

Press releases can be a good way to get free buzz for your app, the idea with a press release is that you write it, and it gets picked up by some large relevant sites or aggregated by many smaller ones. I’ve seen it work wonders for some. I was reading through a few messages on app promotion, and it seems that many developers are falling into one of the older internet scams of paying for submission to free press release sites. Most free press release sites are not worthwhile. These costly services will typically offer free submission for hundreds of press releases. Some are even worse, charging for submission and then simply placing your press release on a single complete insignificant press release site.

Below are 7 free sites that you can quickly, and easily send your press release to as far as article pickups (if you want to check the effectiveness of these sites, put one unique sentence in each submission). These are the ones that seem to be the most effective and all 100% free:

Despite what I said about some pay press release services, there are some good premium press release services. If you’re looking for the best in press releases, I’ve seen many swear by PR Web and MarketWire. I’m really not sure how worthwhile these are for smaller niche apps, but if you’re really looking to leverage press releases you will want to check them out.
At the very least if you’re paying for a service make sure they guarantee you inclusion into Google news.

Whatever you do don’t make press releases your whole marketing plan like many app makers do, they are just a small piece of the puzzle.

If anyone has tips on submitting press releases for Apps I would love to hear about it.

— Update:

One other press release site that I forgot to mention is http://prlog.org which is definitely a place you will want to submit to. I’d suggest only submitting there by hand, as from what I understand they have a mechanism to detect auto-submissions, and it’s such a good free resource that I wouldn’t risk it.